I recently read a long Foreign Affairs article on ‘Revisionist World Order‘, claiming there are no plans for, or any sense of international collaboration. As evidence, they contrast Global defense spending ($2T) against Total Global GDP ($85T)!! Evidently, a lot of countries are very nervous about war, and its bad outcomes. One of those outcomes is poor physical and mental health. Our country may be super rich by per capita measures, but statistical averages don’t reveal who has the wealth. It’s an ancient and complex tale; but the summary is short. Follow the money.

I’m a relatively well-off retiree. Even so, I’m shocked by the cost of doctor visits, that get more frequent with age. I worry about people who have no insurance or any access to decent medicine. Though I’m insured by Medicare and Blue Cross, many treatments aren’t covered. I think we should change the name of Explanation of Benefits (EOB) to   Explanation of No Benefits EONB. Insurers ‘explain’ why hearing, vision, dental work, or other such frivolous expenditures for the sake of vanity are typically not reimbursed. The same is true for ‘unnecessary’ procedures like massage, fitness programs, and treatment for toenail fungus. But these are all important for the physical and mental well-being of many people.

The world seems  lost, not what it should be, sick and in need of healing. I use Biblical language, because the ultimate healer is Heavenly, and the order of everything comes from the One who is Order Itself. You’ll find hundreds of Bible texts that speak of lifting burdens, healing sorrows, and overcoming death. To quote one, Matt 11: “28 Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 for My yoke is easy and My burden is light”… (From  Bible Hub)

However, such literal texts can be (and are) interpreted many ways. That’s because they have a deep inner symbolic meaning that the letter ‘corresponds’ with. Correspondence is a theological concept taught by the 18th C. Prophet, seer and revelator Emanuel Swedenborg. He influenced many famous people, including Blake, here depicting Satan and an angel’s struggle for a child.

That inner symbolism of every bit of the Bible (The Word) is what Jesus meant when he said ‘until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law, until all is accomplished!’ (Matt 15:18).

In his most  popular work, Heaven and Hell, Nos. 258 through 261, Swedenborg further develops this idea . From No. 260 let me quote a paragraph: “Another time I was sent a small page from heaven [Yes, they have writing!] with only a few words written on it in Hebrew letters. I was told that each letter enfolded treasures of wisdom, and that these were contained in the bends and curves of the letters and therefore in the sounds as well. I could see from this the meaning of the Lord’s words, ‘I tell you in truth, until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle shall pass away from the Law’ (Matthew 5:18). It is acknowledged in the church that the Word is divine right down to the smallest point, but where in each point the Divine lies hidden – that is not known as yet, so it needs to be explained. In the inmost heaven, the writing consists of various curving and bending forms, and these curves and bends are in keeping with the form of heaven. Through them, angels express the treasures of their wisdom, including many things that they cannot say in words. Believe it or not, the angels know this writing without practice or teachers. They are inwardly gifted with it as they are with the language itself (236), so this writing is heavenly writing. The reason they are inwardly gifted with it is that all the outreach of angels’ thoughts and affections and therefore all communication of their intelligence and wisdom takes place in keeping with heaven’s form (201). This is why their writing flows into that same form.’

From No. 264 he says this: “If people have no concept of heaven and do not want any concept of it other than one of some insubstantial atmosphere in which angels fly around like intellectual minds without the senses of hearing and sight, they cannot believe that angels have language and writing. They locate the entire presence of everything in matter. Yet the things that one finds in heaven occur with just as much reality as those in our world, and the angels who are there have everything they need for life, and everything they need for wisdom.” (My emphasis)

I realize that every time I write about Swedenborg, or any Biblical topics, they will typically be dismissed, ridiculed or ignored by disbelievers. That’s alright. It’s a question of their freedom to believe what they will. Not to say ‘I told you so’, which Mother said is an uncharitable comment, but I’m sure we’ll all discover the outcome of these life choices. Here is Blake’s  depiction of the One who keeps perfect order, laying out the proper measurements of the World.